"What are they doing?" Zhang Fei looked at the fort that was gradually being built from a distance, and looked at Zhuge Liang beside him in confusion. The distance was too far. Even if he wanted to build a fort, it would be so far away that he might not even be able to reach the city wall. He couldn't even hit him. Is Chen Mo stupid?

Zhuge Liang looked at the fort that was gradually taking shape in the distance, and he had a bad feeling in his heart. He naturally knew what the fort was for, but the distance was a bit exaggerated. It was impossible to attack the city wall, but if not, What’s the point of Chen Mo doing this?

But at the moment, there is no other way except waiting. If they leave the city, the Jingzhou Army and the Ming Army fighting outside the city are no match at all. In order to prevent them from destroying, Chen Mo has two troops guarding the surroundings, and they can fight at any time, and even if The opponent's forts were leveled at a huge cost, and the opponent could build more, but the Jingzhou Army lost bit by bit.

Time continued to flow in this uneasy mood. The Ming army did not attack the city in the past few days, but the Jingzhou army felt as if their days were like years, and the depressive atmosphere continued to spread among the army.

Three days later, forty forts with a height of two feet and a length and width of five feet were set up outside Fancheng. Five days later, forty catapults, which were more than twice the size of ordinary catapults, were deployed at the Jingzhou Army. It was built right under their noses.

The exaggerated size is still shocking even when viewed from a distance of one hundred and forty steps, like a wild beast ready to devour anyone at any time.

On the ninth day, everything was ready, and a jar of fire oil tanks was moved to the front line. Chen Mo stood on a high tower that had been built, watching the actions at the top of Fancheng from a distance. Under his feet, every machine Around the catapult, there were ten strong men under the command of the general, triggering the catapult. On the huge net bag, a jar of kerosene was sent up to light it.

Ma Jun gave the order, and in an instant, the strongmen who pulled the winch let go at the same time. The iron ropes on the gallows were contracted by the drag of the machine and gravity. The sound was like a thunderbolt, and all that was seen was the altar of burning kerosene. The cans flew up into the air and fell towards the top of Fancheng like meteors. Some even went directly over the city wall and fell towards the city.

At the moment when the kerosene tank fell and burst, the Jingzhou Army's nightmare also came. The scattered kerosene quickly enveloped a large area of ​​the city wall, and the towering enemy tower was swallowed up by the flames in an instant. Hundreds of soldiers defending the city were there at that moment. They were instantly covered in flames, but they did not die. They screamed and rolled around, and some simply jumped from the top of the city and fell to their death. For a time, howls, curses, and wailings rang out from the top of Fancheng.

The soldiers responsible for controlling the company's crossbows instinctively launched crossbow attacks. Unfortunately, the distance from the fort was beyond the range of the company's crossbow vehicles, and the Ming army was not harmed at all.

Zhuge Liang looked at this scene with a pale face, not because he was afraid, but because he knew that he had lost. Even if he wanted to leave the city and destroy these forts, it was too late.

The Ming army's catapults continued to roar, and soon the second round of attacks arrived. Most of the city was covered in flames, and the defenders had no foothold. Many soldiers began to flee desperately.

Zhang Fei did not ask Zhuge Liang, and directly led his infantry and cavalry out of the city, hoping to destroy these catapults before the next round of bombardment.

Ma Chao, who was in charge of cruising around, saw this and without saying a word, drove his troops to attack Zhang Fei. The two groups of men and horses rushed against each other like two torrents under the city. At the same time, Pang De and Zhang Xiu also surrounded Zhang Fei's retreat on the left and right.

Although Zhang Fei was brave, he was outnumbered. He roared and fought his way in and out of the rebel army, but in the end he could not conceal his decline. He was defeated by Ma Chao, Pang De, and Zhang Xiu. He had to retreat to the city in defeat. After Ma Chao and the others chased him into the city gate, Zhang Fei was defeated.

On this occasion, he desperately blocked the city gate.

At this moment, most of the third round of fire bombs has fallen on the city head, and the northern city wall has been reduced to a sea of ​​flames, making it difficult to stand.

Chen Mo took the opportunity to command his soldiers and horses to launch a fierce attack on the city gate. Without the support of the soldiers and horses at the top of the city, he only needed to break the city gate to invade Fancheng. Once the city gate was broken, Fancheng would be half broken.

Zhuge Liang and Zhang Fei in the city naturally understood this truth. While they blocked the city gate, they quickly sounded the horn and asked for help from Jiangdong. They knew very well that even if they mobilized all the soldiers and horses from Xiangyang, they would not be able to defeat Chen Mo.

At this moment, Jiang Dong must take action to stop Chen Mo.

On the other side, Cao Ang had also noticed the situation here. The fire on the north gate of Fan City could be seen from several miles away. He did not expect that the north city could be broken down so easily. He did not dare to neglect and immediately ordered Cao Zhang

, Cao Xiu and Xia Houba each led a group of troops and attacked Fancheng to support Zhuge Liang.

But here, Chen Mo was well prepared for the arrival of Jiangdong Army. Zhang Liao and Xu Huang personally went into battle and led their troops to block Jiangdong Army in the east of the city. The two parties fought again. Cao Xiu, Cao Zhang and Xia Houba were all young men of the Cao family.

The leaders of their generation, but compared to Zhang Liao, Xu Huang and others, after all, they are a little less sophisticated. The two sides fought in the east of the city for half a day, but the Jiangdong Army was retreating steadily. On the main battlefield, Wei Yan had already led his troops to blast away.

After entering the city gate, he led his men and horses to fight into the city.

Zhuge Liang's repeated crossbows played a huge role here. Dozens of people could form a dense arrow formation. The first batch of soldiers who entered the city were beaten to a miserable state.

Wei Yan immediately adjusted his troops and horses and ordered the shield soldiers to form a shield formation and move forward. The advantage of Yuanrong's crossbow was its fast attack speed, but its disadvantage was that it was not powerful enough and did not have strong penetrating power like the serial crossbow chariot.

However, the shield formation of the Ming army was powerless. Zhuge Liang commanded his troops to fight and retreat. The Ming army's siege weapons were unable to enter the city. In the city, they relied on their familiarity with the terrain to engage in street fighting with the Ming army. Although the Ming army was brave,

However, it is difficult to defeat these defenders quickly.

On the battlefield outside the city, both Cao Ang and Zhou Yu arrived. Seeing that Cao Xiu, Cao Zhang and Xia Houba were retreating steadily on the battlefield, Cao Ang ordered Cao Zhen and Lu Meng to send troops to attack Zhang Liao and Xu Huang from the flanks.

There were two armies, but Ma Chao, Pang De, and Zhang Xiu were now free. When they saw additional troops and horses being sent here, the three of them also led their troops to press forward.

The Jiangdong Infantry Army has indeed grown in recent years with the addition of General Cao, but compared to the elite Ming Army who have experienced battles for a long time, it is obviously not enough.

"Commander..." Cao Ang looked at the army in front of him that was gradually at a disadvantage, and sighed helplessly: "Retreat, Fancheng has been destroyed, and our army is no longer enough to rescue Xiangyang. It is better to prepare early and fight against the Ming army."

decisive battle."

Once Fancheng was destroyed, only the isolated city of Xiangyang was left. It was impossible for Liu Bei to stop Chen Mo with the little money he had left in Jingzhou. Although Sun and Liu were in alliance, it was impossible for him to use all the infantry that Jiangdong had trained hard over the years for Jingzhou.

If you pay, and according to Chen Mo's current momentum, even if you pay all the 50,000 troops, without the geographical advantage, it will be difficult to compete with Chen Mo.

After all, Jingzhou's foundation is too shallow, and Liu Bei is still dividing his troops at this time. Although this is Liu Bei's only chance to expand, it cannot be wrong, but judging from the current results, Liu Bei's defeat is certain this time, and he can only hope

He successfully captured Shuchuan. In this way, the alliance between Jiangdong and Liu Bei could be renewed. Otherwise, Liu Bei would be basically abolished.

Zhou Yu nodded. They had fulfilled their obligations as allies. They could not protect Fancheng without their own efforts. It was Chen Mo who came with the general trend. He was too strong. It is impossible to fight Chen Mo on land now.

The only thing we can rely on is to use the terrain of the Yangtze River to fight Chen Mo.

Cao Ang's judgment was roughly the same as that of Zhou Yu. At that moment, Cao Ang offered money and ordered Cao Xiu and the others to withdraw to the camp.

Chen Mo is now mainly focusing on Xiangfan. Jiangdong is willing to withdraw his troops, so Chen Mo is not chasing after him. He will first gnaw off the already gnawed bone of Jingzhou, and then attack Jiangdong. This meal must be eaten step by step.

Without the support of Jiangdong, Chen Mo's main force began to enter the city. No matter how capable Zhuge Liang was, he now realized what it meant to be powerless. Under the protection of Zhang Fei and others, he led the remaining army to fight and retreat, and passed

After the pontoon bridge returned all the way to Xiangyang, Zhuge Liang did not destroy the pontoon bridge. It was not easy for Chen Mo to burn the pontoon bridge, but it was also not easy for Zhuge Liang, who built the pontoon bridge, to destroy it. He set up three continuous ballistas around the pontoon bridge. As long as the Ming army dared to

Once you reach the bridge, you will be immediately attacked by the catapults. You have saved your retreat. However, after this battle, Fancheng has been lost, the Han River is no longer controllable, and Xiangyang has become an isolated city. Fortunately, Zhuge Liang has a large number of troops around Xiangyang.

The layout was so that Chen Mo would not even attack Xiangyang in one go.

"Your Majesty, Jiangdong has withdrawn its troops!"

In the Fancheng Yamen Office, the bloody smell in the air has not dissipated. After Chen Mo, Xun You and others arrived at Fancheng, they quickly ordered Zhang Liao to prepare to attack the Liqiu camp. Without the constraints of Fancheng, now both in terms of terrain and military strength,

Li Qiu is no longer strong enough to continue to fight Chen Mo. If left alone, Chen Mo will be unable to attack Xiangyang with all his strength, so Chen Mo decided to remove the nail in his back first.

What Chen Mo never expected was that Jiang Dong actually withdrew first. Although it saved a lot of effort, it also made Chen Mo feel a little regretful. If Jiang Dong, an army capable of land warfare, could be retained at this time, he would be able to attack the enemy in the future.

Jiangdong has great benefits.

Unfortunately, Jiangdong retreated in time, and from Shen Mo's point of view, Fancheng had been destroyed. Staying here and fighting would not do any good to Jiangdong except losing troops and generals. It was the wisest choice to retreat in time and redeploy the troops.

"Send an order to Zhang He and order him to attack in the direction of Xiangyang and remove all obstacles. The army will cross the river as soon as possible to join him." Chen Mo looked at the crowd and smiled and said: "Today's battle depends entirely on the soldiers' orders. Pass on my military order to attack Fancheng Granary.

Open it, reward meritorious officers and soldiers, and publish a list to calm the people. No one is allowed to disturb the people. Anyone who disobeys the order, no matter who he is, will be dealt with according to military law!"

After hearing the words, the generals quickly stepped in to take orders. Not disturbing the people was not an unusual rule for the Ming army. From the time Chen Mo rose in Hedong, not disturbing the people was the first tenet. Even if Chen Mo didn't say it, the generals would follow it.
Chapter completed!